My New Job

I'll be placing a big order tomorrow .... so excited to get new stuff!  It's funny because I've been having some weird dreams of finding a job.  Last week I dreamed that I was back in Coppell, Texas where I lived previously and worked for 10 years at the high school.  I was talking to a girl I worked with who is in charge of Technology.  She told me she had just lost a key employee and the job would be perfect for me.  I told her I was pretty busy with my bridge, mahjong and card making so I didn't think it would work.  She offered me $750,000 for the job!  So then I called Sonny to tell him about it and you can guess what he told me!  So, I told Jo Lynn that I would take the job for a year but I would have to have one day a month off for my Stamp Club!  That's pure dedication, huh???  Then last night, I dreamed that we had moved back to Washington state.  We were in Gig Harbor trying to make up our minds where to buy a house but Sonny had me go by the ceramic shop where I had worked when we lived there to see if they would give me my job back.  So, what do these dreams mean???  Sonny said they mean I am feeling guilty for spending so much on SU!!  Just wish I could find that first job making $750,000!!  Think of all the SU I could buy with that! 

I recently discovered this web site, Stars and Stamps, which supports our troops with Operation Write Home.  The way it works is you make cards for the soldiers to write notes back home to their family.  You send it to a shipper (addresses for shippers are on this web site) and they ship them out to the troops.  To learn more about this great program, check out the details HERE.    So, while you're making cards, make an extra one and send it to the troops.  You can get those Flat Rate boxes at the Post Office for free and just fill them up with cards.  That's what I plan to do!!  They also have challeges on their blog to inspire you.  Here are a couple of cards I made recently to send to the troops:

This was a challenge to make something "tasty."  I don't know about you, but popscicles are pretty tasty on hot summer days!  This little penguin was a single stamp that I picked up who know where!  I made the beach ball out Cameo Coral cardstock and some non SU DSP.  The card background is Baja Breeze! 

This card uses the new SU set, Because I Care.  The DSP is some I got last year at CK Convention that was part of a scrapbook package.

This was pretty easy to make - no stamping!  I just used some of the DSP from the card above but this time cut it so I could include the flowers.  I used various sized brads for the center of the flowers.  Below is the inside of the card:

A New Grandbaby

No - not a new grandbaby for me - but for my good friend, Sharon.  I made a couple of baby cards last week that I want to share.  The recipients should have received them by now so it is safe to post them!  One of my friends from Texas became a grandmother last week ... for the 3rd time (lucky her!).  Her son and daughter in law had a little girl, Alexis, last Monday.  This makes 3 baby grand-girls for Sharon now.

This card uses an old favorite, Wild About You.  I hate that this set is retired.  I also used a piece of retired DSP.  I ran the pink strip through my brayer and rubbed some Regal Rose ink on it.  The sentiment is also from a retired hostess set.

This is a square card.  I don't usually make them since they require extra postage but figured once in a while is ok!  The "peas" stamp set is also retired and I think it was the first time I used it ...  Although I lent it to a friend a couple of years ago so she could make baby announcements.  I really like the simplicity of this card.  Here is the inside:

This is a great sentiment that I got a few years ago from Little Paper Shop. 

Grandchildren do make the world brighter.  When I was playing bridge this week, several of the ladies were talking excitedly about going to visit their grandkids or that the grandchildren had just been to their house visiting.  I am always so envious.  I have really been missing mine lately and thinking a lot about my grandson who will be turning 4 in August.   I have not seen him since he was 1 1/2 so I know he would not even know me.  Please pray that someday these issues will be resolved and they will once again be in my life.  No human being is perfect. We all make mistakes, yet it is so hard to admit that we are wrong.  A famous line from the book Love Story by Eric Segal states that "Love means never having to say you're sorry". This may sound romantic, but it is  really not a good line to live by. Apologies are necessary in every relationship.  Apologies are the building block of relationships. If a family has any hope of staying together, there will be frequent and sincere apologies.  For some, accepting those apologies and moving on is the hardest thing to do.   But we should try!!

I Scream for Ice Cream

This past weekend I had a little extra time to play and make a few cards.  I used to do the Splitcoast challenges faithfully - especially the sketch and color challenges.  It's been a long time since I did any of their challenges.  In fact, they have a new challenge I didn't even know about!  It's called Free for All and I think they post new ones on Thursdays.  Anyway, last week you were supposed to make a card that was inspired by this little poem:

I like ice cream. Yes I do!

One scoop for me?

No! Make it two!

Hmmm two scoops of ice cream,

I want more

How about three?

No, make that four!

1, 2, 3, 4,

Splat! "oh no! It's on the floor!"

I decided to combine the Free For All challenge with the Sketch Challenge and came up with the following:

I used Pink Passion that I used my NEW embossing folder - it finally arrived from back order & I love it!!  The DSP is some that I had in my stash - not sure who it is by.  The stamp set is a retired hostess set from last year - Goody Goody Gumdrops.

That ice cream looks pretty refreshing after all the 90+ degree days we've been having (17 in a row so far).  Today was 98 and tomorrow is supposed to be in the 90s too.  BUT ... a cool front is on it's way and the highs on Wednesday .... 76!!  And the rest of the week it is only going to be in the 80s.  So, we'll be able to go out on the boat.  We went out on Sunday but stayed in the water (which wasn't that cool) most of the time.

Pretty Flowers

I love flowers and I think my daughter has inherited that from me like I inherited it from my mom.  I just wish I had my mom's green thumb.  The lady can grow anything!  When we were visiting Ashley, she had a huge plant in her yard that was in a large pot.  But, the roots had grown through the bottom of the pot and into the ground.  I used a knife and tried to cut away the pot to give it more room.  We weren't too sure what the plant was but we thought it was a hibiscus.  Well, while she was away the past couple of weeks, it came into bloom and what a beautiful hibiscus it is! 

This gives you an idea of how large the flowers are!  Just wish I was there to see it in person.  Ashley wants to split it and move part of it since it is so big.  I don't know anything about that but if you do, please let us know.  I told her to go to a nursery and ask about it.

Speaking of flowers, I went to Ben Franklin's today (and had more time than last time!) and bought a Hero Arts Cling stamp.  So, I had to make a card when I got home.  What do you think?  Not as pretty as that hibiscus, but it'll do! 

The card is Kiwi Kiss.  The DSP is by My Mind's Eye / Wild Asparagus.  I used my SU Watercolors to color the flower in different colors of purple after embossing the flower in white.

Grandparents

This is priceless and I had to share it with you -

Written by a third grader, on what his grandparents do.

After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their holiday away from school. One child wrote the following: We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa. They used to live in a big brick house, but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Arizona . Now they live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass. They ride around on their bicycles, and wear name tags, because they don't know who they are anymore. They go to a building called a wreck center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now, they do exercises there, but they don't do them very well. There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with hats on. At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape. Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts. Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And, they eat the same thing every night - early birds. Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house. The ones who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck. My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and, says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too. When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will let people out, so they can visit their grandchildren.

Summer On A Tropical Island

This is part of my organization this week.  I know a person or two who will roll their eyes (yes, you Marianne!) but  they  make sponging so much easier!  The pieces of sponge I had been using were just a guess as to what color they were.  So, there were times I was getting purple in my pink sponging and black in my navy.  I've been wanting to make these sponges for several months.  I just took the round sponge and cut it into 6 pieces.  Then punch a tab out of colored cardstock and staple it to the sponge piece.  I store them in a plastic container that used to hold my DMC yard when I did cross-stitch.

Here's my daubers.   I  need to get some clean daubers and keep them uncontaminated too.  I bought this plastic holder last year at CKC.

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So, here is the picture I did today using my nice clean sponges!  It's a CASE from Michelle Zindorf - but sponging instead of brayering.  The recipe is below the card.

Cardstock:  Whisper White, More Mustard, Basic Black, Taken With Teal

Ink:  Tempting Turq., Ballet Blue, Bashful Blue for sky and water / More Mustard & Creamy Caramel for sand

I stamped the tree and palm leaves (from the Summer Mini) in Basic Black.  I made the island using the corner of my black pad.  I stamped "summer" (from an old wheel that I had cut apart) on half of a Top Note die.

Don't you wish you were in that blue water or on that island in some exotic locale???  We can dream can't we!  One of my stamp club gals came to my house yesterday straight from a trip to Hawaii!  Lucky Dog!  She flew in at 8:30 a.m. and came to my house about 1 pm after no sleep.  That is dedication!!

Read a Good Book

Isn't she cute?  I bought this stamp at a stamp store in Lewisville last month on my way to Quarterly.  She reminds me so much of my daughter when she was little ... and now!  Ashley loves to read and can sit down & finish a book in record time.  She is the fastest reader I know.  When she was little, she had her head in a book 80% of the time.  I watercolored the image using Tombow Markers and my Aqua Pen.  I just love to watercolor that way!! 

Have you read any good books this summer?  I have been reading some books by Sheryl Woods.  They are just "feel good" books and a light read.  I don't usually like to read "heavy" books.  My mom listens to book on tape since she is legally blind - she has a degenerative eye disease, retinitis pigmentosa.  When we were at Ashley's, she was listening to a new book by Ann Ross.  It was one of a series of Miss Julia books.  I got so tickled at her - she was just laughing throughout the book.  She said it was about a bunch of 60-70 year old people, set in the south and their adventures - kinda like Aunt Bee on Andy Griffith!  I may have to get one of these books and read it.    One of the best series of books I have read is by Joan Medlicott - The Ladies of Covington.  They are really good.  When the series ended, I felt like I had lost my best friends!

Meander Book

What a crazy name for a book ... a meander book!  It gets it's name from the way the paper is cut and folded to make the pages.  Anyway, it is a fun little book to create.  And all you need is ONE sheet of Designer Paper, a couple of chipboard coasters and whatever scraps you want to use for embellishments.  I used some paper I had left over from a scrapbook kit by SEI that coordinated well so that is what I used.  This is a great little brag book for new mom's or grandmom's, for recipes, pictures, favorite quotes ... whatever you want.  I haven't decided yet what I will do with mine but I want to do another one now if was so fun!

This is the front of the book.  I made one of those crumpled up flowers using Sizzix Flower Layers die.  The leaves are from the Island Floral die in the Summer Mini Catalog.

This is my first page.  Each page has a tag tucked in it.

You can see the tags sticking out the side and top of the book. 

I got the directions for this little book on Splitcoast Stampers.  Beate wrote the tutorial and there is also a video tutorial.  Here is the link.  Check it out and make one for yourself!

My Baggie of Water plus a Monday Mailer

My re-organization is coming together!  I did the craziest thing though!  I have a wooden dowel that Sonny made for me that fits onto an old wrought iron paper towel holder and it holds some ribbon.  Well, I had pulled it about halfway out so I could get a roll of ribbon that was in the middle (isn't that always the case?)  when a fly landed on my arm.  I slapped at the fly and my hand came down snapping the dowel in two.  BUT ... I got the fly!!  Guess I'm going to have to put a baggie of water over my craft room door.  Don't laugh!  I'm one of those people who believe that a baggie of water over your outside door will keep the flies from entering your house.  I have hung those water baggies in our Texas house, our Washington house and my home here in NC and I don't have flies in my house (except the one yesterday - I do believe he came through the upstairs screen window!)  When I was at Ashley's house last month, I hung the water baggie over her back door.  She just rolled her eyes at me.  When I was first told about this, I did the eye rolling too, but I have come to be a believer.  The girl that told me about it said that when they went camping, they would hang the baggies in the trees around the perimeter of their campsite.  Don't know about that, but it works for me here at home.  I've always believed that it's something about their eyes reflecting in the water.  But you can decide for yourself and read this article HERE.

I tackled some shelves today in my organizing that I really didn't want to ... I was afraid of what I would find!  But now I have 2 baskets of finished goodies, a basket of kits I have bought & not even opened yet and another basket of kits I have started at various events but never finished.  So, that is what I will start working on - see how many I can get done!  My Newcomer's group is having a hand-made bazaar in the fall and letting those of us who make things sell our items at a coffee.  I hope to make a little Christmas money by selling a few things. 

Wednesday my stamp club is meeting and they want to make some fabric flowers.  I spent about an hour tonight cutting out some different sizes of flowers with the Big Shot.  I will give them a chance to cut their own if they want, but thought it would help move things along if I did some of the cutting.  I can't wait to see the flowers they make!  I'm also going to be teaching the Garden Club to make the flowers in August - we just have to find a location. 

Here is my Monday Mailer for this week.  I mailed it today to Tina.  Hope she likes it!

I used the Tropical DSP from the Summer Mini and the retiring Owl Together stamp.  I haven't used this stamp set enough!  But, it's one I will hang on to - I like owls.  I used my bow maker to tie the orange bow!  I think this qualifies for a masculine card.  What say you?

Strawberry Fluff

Hope the father in your home had a great day yesterday!  I let Sonny do nothing all day & that's what he did!  I made lunch for him and took him out to dinner.  Well, actually my mom & sister paid for his dinner!  He chose to go to his favorite Asian restaurant and we all had coupons so it was a pretty good deal.  Ashley called him this afternoon to wish him a Happy Father's Day.  She is pretty bored at her training in Ft Polk.  This training is mainly for the soldiers and she is doing a lot of just hanging out.  She is not the type of gal to not have anything to do so I know she will be glad when this is over.

I have a Weight Watcher recipe to share with you.  It's pretty good for these hot summer days.

Strawberry-Pineapple Fluff  -  Makes 6 servings (1/2 cup) at 2 Points

1 small pkg. sugar free vanilla cook "n serve puddingw
1 small pkg. sugar free straberry gelatin
1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple in its own juice, undrained
1 cup water
2 cups frozen unsweetened strawberries
1/4 cup light whipped topping
1/2 cup miniature marshmallows

In large saucepan, combine dry pudding mix, dry gelatin, undrained pineapple, and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring often until mixture thickens and starts to boil. Remove from heat, stir in frozen strawberries. Place pan on a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Whip mixture, using an electric mixer on High, until mixture is fluffy. Stir in whipped topping and marshmallows. Spoon into serving bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 10 minutes. Gently stir again just before serving.

And here's the card that (should) go with the recipe!

Doesn't that look yummy? I CASE'd this card.  This will be one of the club cards this month.  I used some Kiwi Kiss ribbon (still love that color & wish it had made it back!).  The little tag is punched with the Tiny Tag that is in the last mini catalog but it is still available for purchase.

A Place for Everything & Everything in It's Place!

I've been in another organization mood ... well, I have to since my SU stamps have outgrown their shelves! I am moving them over to another set of shelves that have a bunch of stuff on them already. So, I'm finding new homes for the stuff on those shelves. I'm going slow - just doing a little bit a day because it's been so hot. Right now, I can barely walk through my room for the mess. I hope by the end of the weekend I'll find a place for everything and put everything in that place. But I did find a little room on my desk this evening to make this card!

Here's the "deets" on the creation:  I used my Nesties to cut out a white circle and a Marina Mist (love this color!) circle.  I made a mask with the hydranga stamp and stamped the French Script background in Crumb Cake on the white circle (I have a retired French Script but there is also one in the catty on pg 134).  Then I inked the hydranga (from a Sneak Peek stamp, Because I Care) with Marina Mist and Old Olive and stamped it on the circle.  I sponged Crumb Cake (loving this color too!) on the circle.  I stamped "because I care" in Crumb Cake on white & punched it out with the oval punch & backed it with an oval of Marina Mist.  I sponged a little Crumb Cake on the oval before I coated it with Diamond Glaze.  I used an oval from my Hodgepodge Hardware - cut in half! - and using Diamond Glaze as glue, I adhered it to the back of the oval.  I tied a little bit of hemp on either side & frayed it.  Looking at the card now, I think I will add a little glitter to the centers of the flowers - just a tiny bit!

You may also have noticed the changes on my blog design.  I'm still playing around.  Yesterday I downloaded a design from another website & it didn't work out.  In fact, it made a mess of my blog and I spent a couple of hours trying to restore some things.  This design is from Blogger.  They have recently updated their templates so they are more up to date.  This one is pretty plain but I will be playing around with it again tomorrow since I canceled the class I was supposed to do at Stampers Alley. 

We went out on the boat this afternoon. I think today was the 6th straight 90 degree day. I hate to think what July and August are going to be like!! I ended up in the water most of the time - just too hot to lay on the boat and read like I usually do. Looking at the forecast, it is going to stay in the 90s for next week too.  At least it cools down at night - unlike Texas!  I've about decided I'm getting too old to take this much heat. 

STAY COOL!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

BLOG IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION TODAY!

New Goodies in the House!

There are new goodies in the house!  I got the new catty today along with a couple of new stamp sets, and a bundle of the new color card stock and ink pads.  I've only had time to look through the catalog once but so far, I'm liking it!!  I'm sending one of the stamp sets back - I ordered the wrong Hostess sneak peek but tomorrow I'll be using the other stamp set (Because I Care) and I'll be sharing.

For now though, I made a card using Design Elements stencils that I got last week and just got around to opening them tonight!  I love them!  You get three stencils in the pack for $9.95 - very reasonable I think.  To see some of the other stencils, click HERE. 

Here's my card and my "how-to's" -

I temporarily taped the stencil to my Very Vanilla cardstock and sponged Crumb Cake (the old Kraft - now in an ink pad) over the fleur stencil.  Then without moving the stencil, I stamped some of the images from the Priceless stamp set over the fleur in Early Espresso (a very dark brown).  I dyed my taffeta white ribbon Early Espresso with a sponge dauber.  Then I stamped "wonderful" from Warm Words on the bottom.  I layered the Vanilla piece onto a piece of Early Espresso.  I stamped the swirl from Priceless on my Crumb Cake card.  I love it!!

July Monday Mailers

I got a call yesterday from my daughter.  She had arrived at Ft. Polk (Louisiana) safe and sound.  We all thought (as did she) that she would be roughing it out in the swamp land of Louisiana battling mosquitoes, but we were wrong.  Her group got assigned to barracks which are air-conditioned!  She is in the officer's quarter with 4 other women who are all a lower rank than she is.  She said 4-5 of the guys all told her they would get some lumber and build a partition for her privacy.  She assured them that she was ok and didn't need a partition!  While I was talking to her, someone came into her quarters and issued her a weapon ... but no magazine or ammo!  Luckily while we were in Texas, she went out with her Dad and his friend, Don, so they could teach her to shoot and she did real well.  She'd never shot a weapon before!  She never went through Basic Training when she joined the Army - it always conflicted with her Medical School classes so she's had to learn Army stuff as she's gone along.  She found out more details about her deployment - she won't be going to Ft. Hood until Aug. 25 and will be leaving for Iraq early in September.  She will be going to  Mosul.  She said most of the soldiers are disappointed that they will not be on the frontlines of the action.  Not me!!  I'm quite pleased with safety if such a thing is possible with a country at war.  When my son was over there 5 years ago, he worked in one of Hussain's palaces!

Another month of Monday Mailers.  Seems like I'm not the only one who struggles with making masculine cards.  I asked the gals what they wanted the theme to be for July and I got a couple of requests for masculine cards.  When I was at Ashley's, my supplies were limited.  She has this "Cheer to You" stamp set that I don't have so I made my card with it.  I wanted to make the beer foam with a white gel pen, but she didn't have one.  I even went to Michael's and JoAnns in search of one but with no luck.  So ... I stamped the foam onto white cardstock and cut it out.  There's more than one way to skin a cat!!  I used Brillant Blue, Creamy Caramel and More Mustard.  This was my card for the first week of July.

So, this weekend when I wasn't feeling so good, I managed to made this card.  It's pretty simple and uses BoHo Backgrounds which will be retiring in a couple of weeks.  I used Bordering Blue with Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa on this one with a brown Jumbo Brad.

This is the card I received last week from my MM partner, Danielle.  These colors are great!  She used the Butterfly Punch making it easy!!

Card Challenge 411

Sorry my posting has been sporatic.  Ever since I returned from Texas, I just have not felt good - allergies, vertigo ...!  I don't know how I lived in Texas for 22 years.  Of course, I had constant sinus drainage the whole time we were there and just thought that was normal.  And, every year, like clock work, I had sinus infections in February and October.  Since Ashley moved back there, we have visited her twice and I have come home sick both times.  Saturday, I was feeling good and thought I was on the road to recovery.  Yesterday, Sonny  & I went over to Concord Mills and then to Ben Franklin.  By the time I got home, I was so nauseous -  I crashed on the couch for a few hours and had saltines and butter for dinner!  Guess that was better than Sonny's dinner of ice cream & nuts!  Today I felt better so I took my decongestant and went to play bridge but I am dragging now. 

I did have a little time this weekend to make a card just for fun!  I did it for the Stamping 411 challenge.  I had seen this really cute flower and wanted to give it a try.  Here's the link to making the flower if you want to give it a try. 

This is the sketch I had to follow:

This is my card:

I used the designer paper from the Summer Mini, Island Oasis.  The piece of paper on the top actually has a white background but I sponged Rose Red over it (see sample below).  The flower is made with Rose Red cardstock; the leaves are from the Island Floral Die from the Summer Mini in Old Olive (I creased them down the middle and sponged them).

Here is a close up view of the DSP:

See, you can alter your paper any way you want it!

Well, Ashley left today for Fort Polk in Louisiana for her training for Iraq deployment.  She will be there for 2 weeks "roughin it".  I can't even imagine how hot and muggy it will be and I figure the mosquitoes will carry her away!  She'll be here late in July for a visit with us before leaving for Fort Hood in August and Iraq in September. 

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Whew, it's been hot the past few days!  When I got home yesterday after playing mahjong, Sonny was down at the boat chillin' (if that's possible when it's 90 degrees!)  I joined him about 4 pm with the hopes of the heat dying down some.  We rode around a little and then threw the anchor and he read his book while I napped.  The only problem was, I kept waking myself up with my snoring!  I'm still congested and was laying on my back ... otherwise, I don't think that I snore!!  We went to a restaurant on the lake - catfish for Sonny & BBQ for me - yum! 

This morning, I did a card demonstration for a friend's church group.  My sister, Marianne, came along to help out.  We had 12 ladies and I think they really enjoyed making the simple cards.  I always enjoy teaching others what I love.  Here is the card we made:

They had their choice of stamps from Pun Fun and Fun & Fast Notes.  We didn't emboss their cards - I did this one when I got home.  Simple, but cute.

After that, I stopped at a local produce stand in Mooresville and got some fresh veggies.  Sonny & I had good tomato sandwiches for lunch.  I know it's summertime when I can eat a wonderful tomato sandwich.  I have some tomatoes planted in one of the Topsy Turvy Tomato Hangers and I actually have 3 good sized tomatoes on it!  We went out again later in the afternoon on the boat but this time, there was not a breeze to be found.  It was soooo humid!  We kept moving our location trying to find a breeze.  It was another night of no cooking for me!  We went to a place on the lake and got a "to go" wedge salad with blue cheese and ate it right in our boat!  

I'm probably going to stay in tomorrow and work on getting my stamp room in some kind of order.  It's just a mess right now.  I need to make room for the new stamp pads and paper that I'll be getting next week along with a couple of stamps from the new catty.  I should also get a copy of the new catalog with the order too.  Can't wait!!

I've had a few people inquire about the designer paper I printed off My Digital Studio in THIS post.  If you don't have MDS (you really should get it!!) but want to print off the papers, you can do it with whatever design program you have - like Kodak, Photoshop, Corel, etc.  You just need to download the papers as a .jpeg file and download them into your program.  It's really easy and the downloads are pretty inexpensive.   Click HERE and look under Digital Crafting.

Designer Paper from MDS

I'm still not feeling my best but at least I didn't have the vertigo today.  I attended a Southern Living Luncheon today.  Each one of us make a dish out of a current Southern Living magazine and share.  After the meal, we critiqued the recipe - not the cook!  I chose a Two Cheese Summer Squash Casserole and it was delicious!  You can get the recipe HERE.  We started out the luncheon with two appetizers - Shrimp & Bacon Deviled Eggs and Stuffed Mushrooms w/pecans (both in April's mag.).  The salads were:  Greek Caesar Salad (April) and Picnic Potato Salad (May).  The entree was Lemon Chicken (June) with my squash and Oregano Green Beans (April) plus Herb Spoon Rolls (June).  For dessert we had Pecan-Peach Cobbler (June).  The hostess also served us Kentucky Mimosas .... yummy (March mag.)  Everything was delicious.  I don't like mushrooms but I was polite and tried one.  The only thing I didn't care for was the green beans - the flavor was good but the beans were tough.  It is a great way to try dishes you wouldn't ordinarily make. 

When I came home, I played around a bit in my craft room with My Digital Studio.  I was so pleased with the results!  I printed out some Designer Paper that is a recent download and I love it!  I was able to print out 4 to a page.  Here are the pages I did and a few of the cards I made with the DSP.  It is such pretty paper that you don't have to add anything to the card other than a sentiment.

 

 

Clearance Items

Stampin' Up is continuing to offer deals in the Clearance Rack.  The Crafter's Tool Kit is being offered now for $15.99.  It was $40 when it was offered in the catalog!  What a deal!

Other items include lots of Designer Paper, eyelets, ribbon and a new card kit.  Place your order by visiting my SU website and clicking on shop now HERE.

I got back home late Tuesday night with no problems.  We had a change of planes in Dallas.  We had an hour between flights but it was tight.  There were 5 wheelchair people on our flight into DFW.  So, we had to wait for each one to be brought off the plane; then wait for the cart to pick us all up and take us from Terminal C to Terminal A.  Just as we got to our gate, they were paging Mom to put her in the wheelchair to put her on the plane to Charlotte.  When I got all our stuff stored, I realized I'd left my electronic bridge game in the plane that I'd just gotten off of.  I love that game!  I've had it about eight years and would hate to lose it.  Today, I called the AA Lost & Found in Dallas and, of course, only got an answering machine so I left my message.  The flight was continuing on to Oklahoma City so I tried their Lost & Found.  Not only did I get to talk to a real person, but she had my game!!  Yay!  UPS will be delivering it back to me on Friday.   Today I haven't felt too good.  My allergies only seem to bother me when I'm in Texas and they really gave me fits last week.  I've been taking nasal decongestants, allergy decons, and Motrin. That on top of a touch of vertigo had me laying on the couch a lot today. I haven't had vertigo in a few years.  It's real weird - I get it every so often.  It always comes on while I'm sleeping and turn over, turning my head too fast.  Hopefull, I'll feel better tomorrow and be able to make a card to share.  It's been a long, dry spell!

Weight Watching Snacks and Tips

SNACK SIZE SWEET PINEAPPLE CORN MUFFINS
These muffins have a natural sweetness from the combination of corn and crushed pineapple. They are great as a snack or with a nice garden salad.

Serves 12
Ingredients
♦ 1 cup whole-wheat flower
♦ 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
♦ 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
♦ 1/3 cup sugar
♦ 1 tsp baking powder
♦ 1/2 tsp baking soda
♦ 1/2 teaspoon salt
♦ 3/4 cup buttermilk
♦ 2/3 cup fresh corn kernels, cut from 1 lg ear of corn
♦ 1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple in juice
♦ 2 eggs, lightly beaten
♦ 1 egg white, lightly beaten
♦ 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, flaxseed, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, corn, pineapple with juice, eggs, egg white, and butter. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the cornmeal mixture until moistened.
Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the muffins are lightly browned around the edges and have pulled away from the sides of the pan. Remove the muffins and let cool on a wire rack. ~~~Prevention Fiber Up, Slim Down Cookbook

100 CALORIE FROZEN TREATS
Frozen treats are good anytime of the year. You can indulge and enjoy without going overboard. It's a treat, not a meal.
♦ Nonfat frozen yogurt, 1/2 cup [2 golf balls]
♦ Light or fat-free ice cream 1/2 cup
♦ No-sugar-added ice cream, 1/2 cup
♦ Italian ice, 1/2 cup
♦ Chocolate ice cream, 1/3 cup [1/2 tennis ball]
♦ Super premium chocolate ice cream, 4 tbsp [golf ball]
♦ Sorbet, 1/2 cup
♦ Fudgsicle

How about those toppings? How 'safe' are they? Here are a few toppings listed with their corresponding calories per tablespoon.

♦ Whipped cream, 10
♦ Raisins, 27
♦ Granola, 28
♦ Chocolate syrup, 41
♦ Chopped almonds, 47
♦ Butterscotch topping, 52
♦ Chocolate chips, 52
♦ Strawberry topping, 53
♦ Hot fudge topping, 70
♦ M&M's, 71
♦ Chocolate sprinkles, 72
♦ Peanut butter candies, 75
~~~Heart Healthy Guide from Providence Hospital

DRIVE BY EATING!!

One thigh of Original Recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken, 20 grams of fat. Make it Extra Crispy, and then it's 27 grams of fat. Oh heck, throw in the mashed potatoes, gravy and biscuit. That is a whopping total of 660 calories and 40 grams of fat in a single serving.

A Grilled Stuft Burrito with beef at Taco Bell, 680 calories and 30 grams of fat. Switching to chicken doesn't bring the totals down much, 640 calories and 23 grams of fat. (even though chicken is less fatty than beef, this menu item contains saturated and trans fats.)

A Big Mac at McDonald's, 540 calories and 29 grams of fat. The medium french fries bring in 380 calories and 19 grams of fat. Let's have water for our drink. Think it helps much? This meal comes to be a total of 920 calories and 48 grams of fat.

Burger King's Whopper, 670 calories and 39 grams of fat. Add cheese and the fat rises to 47 grams. Let's make it a combo, adding the medium fries, 20 more fat grams. With a medium coke added to your combo, your total calories and fat for this meal are 1330 calories and 67 grams of fat.

How about a Wendy's Baconator? It comes in at 830 calories and 51 grams of fat. Adding a medium order of fries and a medium chocolate Frosty and your eating a total of 1670 calories and 81 grams of fat in one meal!    ~~~Eat This and Live by Don Colbert, MD

Monday mailers for May plus a BD card

I have a few card shares for you.  These are cards I mailed out before I left NC.

This is the Monday Mailer I sent.  I used the die cut notecard and embossed it with a Big Shot embossing folder.  The paper behind the flower (die cut) is Pink Flamingo DSP and is on the Last Chance List.  The flower in the center is from Tropical Party (in the Summer Mini).  I made a Cameo Coral backing for the card using the Corner Punch and Scallop Punch.

This is a birthday card I made using some retired DSP.  The stamp is from Party Hearty (I think - I don't have my catty with me!).  The arrow punch (My Way punch) is being RETIRED and is on the Last Chance List.

This is a birthday card I mailed to my friend, Margaret's husband.  This is a Northwood stamp.  I will be teaching a class at Stampers Alley in a couple of weeks using this stamp and several other water/nature scenes similar to this one.

Two Weddings and a ...... Good Time Texas Style!

OK - I'm waiting for my mom to wake up so have a few minutes to tell you all about the wedding we attended last week.  For those of you who don't know, my nephew got married and they chose a CARNIVAL theme for the wedding.  A little different and I was really interested to see how they pulled it off.  The wedding invitations were really cute - using a carnival type font in Brillant Blue with a belly-band wrapped around it.  I think the only drawback to the whole thing was that it was held outside and it was HOT!  The location was near downtown Austin so there wasn't a lot of breeze blowing.  When we returned to our hotel that night at midnight, it was still 85 degrees so you can imagine how hot it was (90's) at 6:30!  Anyway, it is easier to explain it to you with the pictures.

This was at the Rehearsal Lunch which was held at a restaurant (outside of course!) last Thursday.  This is the groom, me, Ashley and my neice, Melinda.  Ashley, Sonny & I arrived early and decorated the tables with confetti and the carnival collage of pictures I had made.  We ended up supporting the pictures with empty bottles with mini multi-colored slinkies on them so they would look like the ring toss bottles that you see in carnivals.  It was cute until the kids that were there took all the slinkies!!

Ashley with my nephews.  Jake was an usher and Zach was the ring bearer.  They have on seersucker suits!

For the ceremony, we sat on hay bales that were covered with patchwork quilts.  There were jars with flowers in them on shepherd hooks down the center aisle.

After the ceremony, tables were set up for seating although not many people sat for too long.  The heat was pretty well trapped in there!  But the tables were decorated nicely with big rolls of tickets with jars holding flowers on top of them.

These were the table centerpiences.

This is a table tiered with candy apples!  What a great idea.  On each candy apple, was a tag with your name and table assignment.

A unique wedding cake!

This was the groom's cake.  My nephew is a big football fan .... unfortunately, he pulls for the wrong team (Dallas Cowboys) but guess I can't hold that against him!!  We give him plenty of grief for sure.

This was a wonderful idea and a great hit with the kids!  All different kinds of candies and little baggies with the happy couple's name on it and little twist ties so you could bag your own candy.  Above the table was a banner that read "Balloon Express."  My sister (groom's mother) owned a store years ago called The Balloon Express in Vernon, Texas.  She sold all kinds of candies and did a balloon delivery service.  She died 2 1/2 years ago so this display was a surprise to all of us.  It was definitely bitter-sweet and really got to my brother in law.

After the ceremony, waiters walked around serving mini corny dogs and there were machines dispensing cotton candy, soft pretzels, and popcorn.  For dinner there was a buffet serving Chicago Hot Dogs with all the fixins', pizza, fried pickles, macaroni and cheese and sliders.  Not your normal wedding reception fare!

The bride is wiping the sweat off the groom - it was pouring down his face!

They also had a photo booth available for taking pictures.  It dispensed 2 sets of the the pictures - one for you to keep and the other to go in a keepsake book for the couple.  Another great idea.  They had props for you to wear if you wanted to in the pictures - like fake mustach, boas, hats, etc.   Really cute.  They didn't do the traditional bouquet toss or garter mainly because Katrina forgot to put the garter on.  Why should they?  Nothing else was traditional???!  When they were ready to leave, we all had sparklers to light instead of throwing bird seed or rice.

Jack and Kat's wedding was on Friday night.  On Saturday, my neice had a "going away" party at her home for the couple (although they are waiting until August to go away on their honeymoon since they ran out of money!)  She served breakfast tacos, doughnuts, kolaches, bloody mary's, and mimosas.  We left around noon to drive back to Ashley's house, taking Melinda's two boys with us.  I understand the party continued on much later than was planned!

Jack, Katrina and Melinda - the bride & groom are opening their wedding gifts that were brought to the wedding Friday night.

We drove back to Austin on Sunday, dropped Melinda's boys off to her and continued on to Georgetown (north of Austin) for a second wedding of a dear friend of ours.  It was a bit more traditional.  It was also held outside but because of being outside the city, it was much cooler.  Plus, they had fans all around (which Sonny pretty much parked himself in front of!)  The bride was beautiful and beaming.  We are good friends with her and her family and were able to see a lot of our old Coppell friends that we had not seen in quite some time.  The cutest thing at this wedding was when the groom said "I DO", the bride turned to the crowd and exclaimed "HE DOES!!"  The whole place cracked up.  Also when she was walking down the aisle on her daddy's arm, I heard her say to him, "Daddy, everyone's crying!"  Yes, I was crying - she looked so beautiful.

Sonny has always called her "PITA" (pain in the butt) so this was a fitting picture of the two of them.  Plus, he dared me to put this on my blog!

I was having fun!  This is an old high school buddy of my son's who still calls me "Mom"!  He introduced me all night as his mom.

HE DOES!!